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I wonder what happened to the ethical Israel I used to know

Malcolm Fraser

It is time Israel and America learnt that if a country has confidence in itself, in the justice of its objectives, talking with people involves no risk.

I am glad Mark Leibler, spokesman for the Jewish Lobby, has responded to my article concerning Israel and Palestine. The arguments he brings forward are shallow and stale. His reference to Hitler, as was President Bush’s yesterday, was totally absurd. When the Lobby runs out of arguments, they attack the person. That is precisely what has happened on this occasion. Overall it demonstrates a total lack of belief in a future peace and an unwillingness to search for that peace.

He makes no mention of the boundaries of a Palestinian state. If it were the ´67 boundaries there would be no argument, but that cannot be because of Jewish settlements which continue to expand. Leibler brushes aside my reference to those settlements as trivial but, in recent times, Condoleeza Rice, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Xavier Solana, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany have all expressed concern at Jewish actions. Ban Ki-Moon said that Jewish actions were “contrary to Israel’s obligations”. Sarkozy “deplored”; Germany “condemned”. I am in good company in being concerned. It is a major obstacle to peace which Leibler refuses to recognise.

His reference to Gaza is inaccurate. It was a unilateral action which had much more to do with demography than it did to finding a solution to the problem. It was a necessary act for Israel to preserve a Jewish majority in Israel itself.

He brushes aside the arguments about the IRA as “inappropriate”. He does not mention the discussions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was committed to the destruction of democracy and to the death of America, but America would sit down and negotiate with that same power to see if there could be areas of agreement. There were and, little by little, the world became safer.

That example by all previous American Presidents, with courage to talk with one’s enemy, remains an essential pre-requisite in the current situation. That was recognised in the Baker-Hamilton Report on Iraq last year.

Leibler shows no concern for the great number of Palestinians killed. Israel’s answer has indeed been disproportionate and heavy handed. He justifies Israeli action by saying that it must be examined in “context”. This is why many people’s attitude to Israel has changed. It has abandoned the ethical approach so evident in earlier days.

The attitudes depicted in this response will result in continued conflict, continued warfare, continued terrorism. It is time Israel and America learnt that if a country has confidence in itself, in the justice of its objectives, talking with people involves no risk. It does not mean that you agree to something contrary to your principles or to your own fundamental security but it is an essential tool in the search for peace. Failure to talk represents lack of confidence, lack of conviction and a weakness that can have tragic consequences.

I know there are members of the Jewish community in Australia who do not agree with the views vehemently expressed by the Lobby but they are deterred, by one means of another from entering the debate. It would be an important advance if they were able to find a voice and debate these issues. They are too important to allow the usual spokesman free rein.